


Deserve Rest

by orphan_account



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-11-21
Updated: 2018-11-21
Packaged: 2019-08-27 08:09:44
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,188
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16698664
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/orphan_account





	Deserve Rest

It’s over. It’s finally over, yet why is there still a heavy feeling in his heart and on his shoulders. Why does he still feel like he isn’t good enough to win when was the one who saved the day? He was in his lion protecting earth just like the other Paladins did.

Sitting in the hospital bed, he smiled with his family. It was a real smile, truly, it was, but he could stop the weight on his chest.

His nephew, Diego couldn’t stop laughing trying on his helmet. “So cool!”

“Hey, be careful with that, you might break it.”

“Marco… don’t worry, it’s not going to break,” Lance says softly, still in pain from… from whatever happened. Getting the life force sucked out of you will do that. He holds his niece Rachel.

Diego giggles, going to climb on top of Lance. “Diego! Don’t hurt him!”

“Mamá, I’m fine,” he wheezes out once more

“You don’t sound fine.”

He looks his mother in the eyes. “Well, fine as I can—” he wheezes into his hand. “Okay, you’re right.”

“Uncle Lance? What’s wrong, I thought you were better now. Don’t hospitals make you feel better?”

“Rachel, sweetie, uncle Lance isn’t feeling well, which is why he’s in the hospital. It’s not instantly. They’ll help him feel better,” Marco says softly.

“Papá! I asked Lance!”

Lance smiles, wheezing again. “Marco right. Never thought I’d say that, huh?”

“Good to know you’re still a numbskull,” Luis laughs, hands in his pockets.

The boy smiles, wheezing again. “I’m going to go get the doctor,” Veronica stands up, walking out the room.

“Uncle Lance, can you teach me how to braid my hair? I can’t do it yet! Papá hasn’t showed me yet.”

“Hmm, maybe I can, maybe I can’t. Depends on if…” he stops himself halfway through his sentence. He was going to say that it depends on if she’s good. That might be different now. He failed his one job, trying to keep his family away from this. Rachel and Diego are lucky to be how they are, other kids had to grow up.

Like himself. Suddenly his ears were ringing and he covered them, feeling Rachel pulled from his lap. Explosions, no no, it can’t, not again, not again. Hot tears fall from his eyes, no sounds other than heavy breathing.

“Uncle Lance!” Rachel cries, she’s worried about him, but she’s muffled and he can barely hear her. His knees are up to his chest as he tried to cover his ears as tightly as possible. His back felt like it was on fire, no, no, please.

A few minutes later the ringing stopped and he released his hold on himself. Currently, Marco was outside with Rachel and Diego. Luis, Mamá, and Papá were outside as well talking to the doctor.

“Lance, you okay?”

“I’m sorry, I don’t, I don’t…”

“Know what that was? It was either an anxiety attack or… a PTSD attack.”

Lance’s eyes widen. He knows an anxiety attack feels like. “No.”

“Lance, please, just get some rest.”

He looks at his sister with pleasing, tired, eyes. “I’m going to be okay, right?”

“Of course you will, just get some rest, please.”

He sighs, falling back into his bed, closing his eyes.

~~~

When Lance woke up, he almost bolted out of bed, he was going to miss training! Where is his alarm clock?! Why wasn’t Keith yelling at him to wake up?!

“Lance!”

“What— oh,” he lays back in the bed covering his eyes. “I’m, I’m sorry…”

“What were you bolting out of bed for? I know you’re a creature of habit,” Veronica says softly. “It’s five in the morning, you never get up this early.”

“I-I thought… I just…”

“Leandro.”

“I thought, I thought I was.. ugg. I thought I had training.”

Veronica raises an eyebrow. “You actually got up for that?”

“Well, I wasn’t going to let the universe get taken over by bloodthirsty warlords when I was the main hope of survival. I didn’t want the universe to be taken over and it is our fault, or worse, mine,” he brings his knees up to his chest. “Roni, how, how long was I gone?”

His sister sighs, looking away from him. “Five and a half years. You were gone for five and a half years… we— I never gave up hope. I kept track, did you even know your twenty-second birthday was last month.”

Lance looks up at her, chin resting on his arms. “I’m sorry. I didn’t… I didn’t know. It barely felt like two years! I didn’t, this… we led Lotor there. We were gone. Earth was… and it’s our fault… we didn’t! We didn’t think! Sendak came back and he, he fucking took Earth and we didn’t even know! I’m sorry. I’m so sorry. I was gone for so long! I thought— god I’m so sorry!”

“It’s not your fault!”

“Yes, it is! We lead Lotor into the quintessence field! We didn’t have too! Three years went by because fuck space and having normal time! We made everyone think Voltron was dead! The Blades were nearly wiped out, god, who knows what happened to the rebels, Matt’s still alive…”

“Lance. Stop. It’s okay.”

“I just, I wanna go home, but, but I know it’s gone.”

Veronica sighs. “After… well, after we thought you died, I wanted to join the garrison. I didn’t join until Sendak came. We lost… We lost everyone. I protected our family, but friends were taken…”

“They’re okay, right? Now, at least?”

His sister sits on the edge of the bed. “Yeah. Lance, I wanted to talk to you. You just, you don’t seem like the Lance I used to know. I get things have changed, but, you used to be so open within something was bothering you and now I feel like you’re about to explode.”

“I… I don’t want to talk about this now.”

“Lance what else is there to talk about! I know you’re in pain, but that’s not just physical! I know you’ll never be the same again, but, but, Lance I still care about you! You’re my brother and I hate seeing you hurt like this!”

The boy just closes his eyes, taking a deep breath. “I don’t know. I just, even after saving the whole universe, I have the nagging feeling it’s not enough, I’m not enough. I don’t know why. I just saved the whole universe. Ezor and Zethrid might still be a problem though…”

“You need to rest.”

“I just… I don’t feel like I deserved it though, I don’t know why and it’s so frustrating!”

“Lance. Listen to me, you saved us. I saw you were the first one out there about to fight those things on your own. You deserve to rest.”

He sighs, closing his eyes laying back down. Maybe he’d be able too. But the nagging feeling still sits in him. Ezor and Zethrid are still out there, but he’s not giving up just yet. He knows what happened to him and he knows it will take time to recover, but he deserves rest.


End file.
